A candidate for Alexandria city marshal recently told local media that he was a felon working on getting a pardon. That does not eliminate Cornelius Lawson White Jr. from running for the marshal's office, or any office, however.

In July 2004, White was a 15-year employee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons when he sent a fax to the bureau's director threatening to injure the Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution warden and other staff members. He was charged with one count of threats in interstate communications.

White, now 57, pleaded guilty to the charge. He received nine months in prison and two years of supervised release. He fulfilled that in June 2007, according to documents included in his pardon application.

He does maintain that he is innocent and that he was set up by officials within the system. Three telephone calls to White for comment were not answered, and his voicemail was full.

In 1997, Louisiana voters had approved a constitutional amendment that barred felons from running for office for 15 years after they had completed their sentences. But the language of the amendment didn't match what the Louisiana Legislature had passed, so it was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court in 2016.

An effort to resurrect the amendment during the 2017 session failed. Although House Bill 351 passed in the house, with the time reduced to eight years, it languished in a Senate committee.

Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, said he expects the issue to be addressed again in Baton Rouge. He said he hasn't talked to the bill's author, Rep. Gregory Miller, although he noted that it passed the House with overwhelming support.

The Senate had some issues with it, so it didn't pass there, he said.

White qualified for the marshal's race earlier this month on the last day, becoming the sixth man in the field. Another candidate, Edward Butler Jr., withdrew because he still owes $800 in fines after filing late documents when he ran for the position in the 2014 election.

In announcing his disqualification on Jan. 20, Butler said he missed a crucial step that resulted in the fines.

"People hear the word ethics and automatically go to a negative connotation to associate with it," he wrote. "My misstep with the ethics board resulted in a fee that was not handled on time. It was a valuable lesson learned and a mistake that I will not make again."

White has completed the application for a pardon, submitting it during President Barack Obama's administration. In addition to the application, it includes character affidavits from people like Glenda Stock, a retired McDonald's franchise owner who employed White, former marshals James R. Byrd and Terence Grines and others.

White gave The Town Talk a copy of his application packet last year.

In the application, he listed five reasons he sought the pardon — because he's been loyal to God, because he'd never been in any trouble before this incident, to get his rights restored, to clear his family's name and to be able to run for public office "one day if I choose to."